MURDERER IN BOSNIA

Islam, November 1992

Halil Necatioglu

I have been following the news and reading opinion columns in newspapers. Writers from different sections and backgrounds agree on one point: The West has not fulfilled a civilized and humanitarian duty in Bosnia-Hercegovina; it displayed a double standard, instead.

An experienced and renowned Turkish ambassador has pointed out recently: "If the roles had been changed and Muslim Bosnians had killed tens of thousands of Orthodox Serbs and Catholic Croats displacing two million people from their homes and leaving four hundred thousand people to death in hunger and cold, what would the European countries and the United States have done? They would militarily intervene and prevent the manslaughter, send humanitarian aid, and help the wounds heal, and judge those who had been responsible.

Unfortunately this is the true face of the West! It has not been changed throughout the history. If it is to its benefits, the West breaks the treaties, massacre masses, torture helpless people, burn people, and ignore its own code of ethics. Those who want to be united with the West must not know the true character of the West or must not have a sound knowledge of history. If they are not ignorant, they must be doing treachery.

The most important factor to form this spiritual and thought structure of the West is the organized church. In some places, the church works with doctors, hospitals, schools, media, peace corps, and missionaries. In some other places the church works with inquisition, torture, force, intricate tricks, wars and revolutions, and mass murders. Interfering with government policies and using direct or indirect pressures, the church protects its own interests, and widens its influence.

The true murderer in Bosnia-Hercegovina is the church and its organizations.

The church has international organizations, uncountable publications, many charitable organizations, educational and cultural institutions, lots of money, intimate relationships with politicians, and influence world politics. Yet, they are not lifting a finger against the mass murder being committed in Bosnia. They are deaf to the screams, senseless and unconscientious for the suffering in Bosnia.

The Serbs claim to serve the Christianity by slaughtering Muslims. They must think, "What kind of a religion is this Islam? Whoever comes to know about it accepts it readily. The only way to prevent the spread of Islam is to slaughter, kill, oppress, suppress, and destroy Muslims." Woe to those who still think like this in the 20th Century! What kind of a concept of religion is this? How could a religion permit oppression? How could a religion allow immorality, rape, and killing innocent and helpless men, women and children? Shouldn't be the foundation of religion resting on doing good deeds, loving people, ordaining justice, forbidding injustice, stopping the oppressor, and helping the oppressed?

Aren't there any truly religious, god-fearing, civilized people in Europe or America? Why can't we hear their voices? How come they are speechless? Why can't they do something to stop the massacre in Bosnia? Why don't they organize walks and protest meetings? Where are the doctors who took an oath to help the sick and wounded regardless of the race or religion? Where are the freedom lovers and philosophers? Where are the politicians who had claimed that the Kurds were oppressed in Turkey? Where are the western news writers who made a gigantic issue out of the arrest of a heroin-addict woman?

The history testifies that millions of Christians have lived in peace for centuries in Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, and other Muslim countries in Asia and Africa. There has been no such mass murders! Muslims fought only with those who fought them. During the fights, Muslims inflicted no harm to property, churches, clergy, elderly, women or children; they protected them.

O Muslims! It is time to wake up and get to know the truth about your opponents. Take your precautions and hold tight onto Islam. Work towards conveying the message of Islam. Give the highest priority to serving Islam. Look and take a lesson: you took it easy and neglected your Islamic duties; they followed their corrupt ways with perseverance. You must work with belief and determination so that this perverted and dangerous way of life dies out, and the sun of Islam illuminates the whole world. Help the good overcome the evil; the common sense, the fanaticism; true belief, corrupt beliefs. Let the world turn into a rose garden.